Christmas Designs

Rotating Christmas Sticks

Laura Blechle from White Flag Christian Church in St. Louis, MO brings us this reclaimed wood wall and Christmas trees.

They made the wall from free pallets that they found at a local recycling center. They were then cut apart using a Sawzall. They were afraid that they would not have enough reclaimed wood, so they began with a base of longer cedar boards that they had left over from another stage design. Their inspiration came from Journey Church and their Over Throne design.

Their walls were actually 5 sections, each 8’w x 12’h. Once they were all screwed together, the total wall length was 40’. It was 2×4 construction faced with thin plywood. The slats were attached to the wall using a nail gun. They then added their Christmas trees.

These were made of whitewashed 2×4’s with a large holes drilled in the center and slipped onto a piece of threaded black pipe (Home Depot will cut and thread it to the length you need at no extra charge). They attached a metal flange to the tree stand, screwed the black pipe on, and then began to stack their boards, placing a small spacer between each board. Once all the boards were in place, they screwed a cap on the pipe and then twisted the boards around the pipe to get a nice shaped tree.

The trees were: 12’h x 8’w, 10’h x 6’w, and three 8’h x 4’w. Each tree took detailed planning for how long to cut each board to achieve the proper dimensions, but they were in approximately 1-1 ½ inch increments. They also hung Edison bulbs to add a soft glow, purchased from 1000bulbs.com.

Out in the lobby they built some stands from reclaimed wood and on Christmas Eve used them to serve treats. The ornaments on the Christmas trees were made of wooden discs bought on Etsy and then branded with a branding iron purchased from Branding-Irons.biz.

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15 responses to “Rotating Christmas Sticks”

  1. Craig Stotts says:

    How did you make the bases for these trees? Also, what was the pole in the middle of the trees made of? Thanks!!

    • Craig,
      The center pole was a threaded steel pipe from Home Depot, who was nice enough to cut and thread for free to the lengths that we needed. Then we stood 2 x 4’s on edge and attached a threaded flange to the top center. The steel pipe was threaded into the flange and we began stacking the ‘branches’ onto the pole. We did find it necessary on the taller trees to attach a safety guide wire to the top of the tree and then up to the rafters to secure the tree.

  2. James King says:

    Great design. I want to use it for our Christmas Set. How many 2x4s did you use per tree?

    • Laura Blechle says:

      I don’t remember how many 2×4’s it took to complete this task. I began by knowing how wide I wanted each tree, then how tall I wanted each tree. I drew it up on graph paper and began calculating the length of each board and how we could cut each 8′ board to end up with the least amount of waste. Sorry, I no longer have my calculations sheet. Good luck!

    • TeriG says:

      James, did you ever make these? If so, do you have any hints/tricks that you discovered? I want to make one for this coming Christmas….thanks!

  3. Rob Simpson says:

    Can you tell me the overall height and/or width at the base of the Christmas tree?

    • The trees were: 12’h x 8’w, 10’h x 6’w, and three 8’h x 4’w. Each tree took detailed planning for how long to cut each board to achieve the proper dimensions, but they were in approximately 1-1 ½ inch increments.

  4. TeriG says:

    Love these! I’m in an apt this year and want to make a tall, skinny one. I think you’ve provided enough info for me to do this! thanks!

  5. Tabbetha Richardson says:

    James, did you ever do these? If so do you have the measurements you used?
    Thanks

  6. Steven says:

    We did this last year and it turned out great! I wish I could post pictures in the comment but oh well. Took a LONG time to cut the wood. I was working by myself but if I remember correctly I did it all in 18 hours and $370 in supplies. Mainly 2×4’s and drill bits. I had to hand drill the holes in the center of the 2×4’s with a corded drill which was surprisingly difficult. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

  7. Bob S says:

    Hello.These are beautiful. I see it looks like 1×4 spacers(?). Any idea of the approximate weight of each tree

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